Cyclocross Promoters Summit

The first annual Cyclocross Promoter Summit took place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center last April 23-25 in Colorado Springs. The event was attended by its host USA Cycling, Geoff Proctor of the UCI Cyclocross Commission, team representatives, sponsors, officials and promoters. The summit’s agenda was to discuss the national cyclo-cross calendar, event standards, national championships and the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Louisville in 2012 and 2013.

The meeting tackled several subject matters. These were:

• UCI Cyclo-cross Commission activities • USA Cycling cyclo-cross athlete development program updates • officials’ event reporting and evaluation • national calendar development • national championship scheduling • the criteria for potential national championships and masters world championship eligibility • potential call-up procedures • ideas on how to improve all levels of cyclo-cross racing in the U.S.

The USA Cycling staff also suggested conducting a time trial at the Cyclo-cross National Championships to create the call-up procedures for the non-elite category riders. On a separate course, the top eight finishers in each category that are not given UCI points can vie for start position.

Next year’s summit will be a three-day event is also open to all organizers of the UCI sanctioned cyclo-cross races and members of the USAICO forum.

Promoter Joan Hanscom praises the summit’s success. “It was a great opportunity for us to participate in a dialogue about the growth and development of the sport. With such a strong cross-section of the cyclo-cross racing community at the table, from UCI Commissaire Randy Shafer to uber-grassroots promoter Brad Ross, we were able to address some important issues from many angles.”

USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson also shared his thoughts. “This dramatic and exciting growth has created new challenges so it was long overdue that we brought together a group of leaders from cyclo-cross to focus on how we nurture and grow ‘cross racing in the U.S. We look forward to continued dialogue and more participation at the Cyclo-cross Promoter Summit next year.”